"The Blessing story - Nearly 130 years of service to the region
Humble Beginnings
At a public meeting held in the Adams County courthouse, on December 1, 1869, a committee known as the Relief Association was appointed to provide relief for the poor during the approaching winter. The group's first service was the distribution of grocery items and other provisions, valued at $9,000.
By the fall of 1873, it became apparent that there was a real need in the city for a general hospital and on October 29, 1873, the Charitable Aid and Hospital Association of Quincy was formed.
By May 19, 1875, the Association raised $12,000 and opened a 19-room hospital with space for 30 patients on a tract of land donated by prominent Quincy couple, Sarah and Mathias Denman.
St. Mary Hospital Makes Its Mark
While Blessing Hospital was establishing itself as a community hospital for the sick and the destitute, Quincy's first permanent hospital, St. Mary Hospital, was nearing its 10th year of operation.
The story of St. Mary Hospital begins in 1866 when the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor arrived after a request by the Rev. Herman Conrad Schaefermeyer, pastor of St. Boniface Church, to open a hospital in Quincy. The mission and goal of St. Mary Hospital was much like that of Blessing - to minister to the sick and the poor of the community.
The Sisters were inspired by the "healing ministry of Jesus," with the philosophy to see Christ in every person and treat each patient with compassion and dignity. By October 1867, their efforts to raise money and support for a hospital culminated in the opening of St. Mary Hospital, a 50-bed facility built on a plot of land located at 14th and Broadway sold by William Moore and C. Fischer for $17 per foot.
A Two-Hospital Community
Establishing a hospital was difficult in the early days as only the poor sought care. In those days, well-to-do people were cared for in their homes by the women of the house.
Blessing Hospital was founded because members of the community felt there was no place for poor and sick travelers to go. The City Poor House was not equipped as a hospital and St. Mary Hospital, which was also an asylum, was frequently full.
From the outset, there was friendly competition between Blessing and St. Mary hospitals. The 1877 annual report of the Charitable Aid and Hospital Association of Quincy states, "Their zeal in such matters of practical benevolence is well worth imitation; if Protestants showed a fraction of the interest manifested by them in their charities, Blessing Hospital and Woodland Home (an orphanage) would never languish for want of funds, but would be monuments of benevolence of the Protestant Churches in Quincy."
The histories of Quincy's hospitals show the efforts of the founders grew out of a commitment to the health of the community and a need to serve the sick and the poor. This commitment to health was graciously returned to the hospitals through financial gifts, bequests and donations. Among the hospital supporters was the St. Mary Hospital Society, who held fund-raising activities to be able to purchase Quincy's first ambulance in 1898.
A Leader in Nursing Education
Significant to the development of the healthcare in Quincy was the founding of the Blessing Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1891, one of the first accredited nursing schools in the Midwest to be organized outside of Chicago. From the first graduating class in 1894, the now Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing has experienced tremendous growth. The College of Nursing offers a four year BSN program and is accredited by the National League for Nursing - a designation denoting excellence in nursing education.
The Changing Face of Healthcare
Growth of the community and advances in medical care spurred the growth of Quincy's hospitals. As the hospitals grew, so to did their commitment to provide quality, compassionate medical care while keeping pace with technology. The tradition of healthcare in Quincy took an historic turn on April 1, 1993, when Blessing Hospital acquired the assets of St. Mary Hospital. Combining the services of Quincy's two hospitals was a major step taken to strengthen Quincy as the region's medical hub.
Today, a Regional Medical Center
Now operating as one hospital from two campuses, Blessing Hospital has become the largest and most sophisticated center in a 100-mile radius with over 13,400 inpatients and 245,000 outpatients annually. As a regional healthcare provider, the Hospital offers a breadth of services seldom found outside major metropolitan areas. Care is provided by a medical staff of more than 240 physicians, over 90 percent of whom are board-certified, dozens more dentists and other credentialed healthcare professionals, and more than 2,000 Blessing Hospital employees providing hospital services 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year.
The Hospital is directed by a 13-member voluntary Board of Trustees composed of local citizens who have distinguished themselves in community service as well as their chosen occupations.
Organizationally, Blessing Hospital is part of a family of corporations created, in part, to accommodate diversified growth. The system parent is Blessing Corporate Services, Inc. Other affiliates include BlessingCare Corporation, which manages Illini Community Hospital in Pittsfield, IL; Blessing Physician Services; Blessing Affiliates, Inc., which oversees the management of the Community Outreach Clinic (COC); The Blessing Foundation, a fund-raising organization; and Denman Services, Inc., a for-profit company with six separate business ventures: Denman Medical Equipment & Supply; Macomb Medical; Denman Linen Services; Adaptive Mobility Systems and Denman Biomedical.
The future holds many changes for the delivery of healthcare. Blessing Hospital views these changes as opportunities to improve the community's health and to advance both the science and art of healing. Its responses will be designed to enhance quality to the patients it serves and efficiency to the region to which it is accountable. These are Blessing's traditions, and ones not subject to compromise.
While so much has changed since 1875, dedication and commitment to our patients always remain the focus of Blessing's efforts."
- above text from (
visit link)
- text in Quick Description from (
visit link)